Animal Welfare

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government has taken to ensure the welfare of sea creatures in the last 12 months.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The UK Government's vision for the marine environment is for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. To this end, the Government have taken steps within the past 12 months to protect sea life through a diverse range of initiatives and policies, including:
	 Developing the Marine and Coastal Access Bill
	The Marine and Coastal Access Bill is currently progressing through the parliamentary process; it had its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 15 December 2008 and started its House of Lords Committee stage on 12 January. It is expected to gain Royal Assent in the summer or autumn of 2009. The Bill will bring significant changes to the way the marine area is managed and protected, and will help us towards our vision for the marine environment.
	 Assessing the state of UK Seas
	The Government make regular assessments of the state of the UK seas to evaluate the extent to which they are clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse. The first report, Charting Progress, was published in 2005 and is available on the DEFRA website at:
	www.defra.gov.uk
	The second report is currently being prepared and is expected to be published in 2010. The monitoring and assessment work and evidence collection is co-ordinated across the UK through the UK Marine Monitoring and Assessment Strategy (UKMMAS).
	 Designating further Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
	In the last 12 months, DEFRA has designated five additional marine candidate special areas of conservation (SACs) in UK offshore waters, which takes the total number of MPAs in UK waters to 156. These new sites have also been added to the OSPAR (Commission for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic) list of MPAs.
	Furthermore, Natural England (NE) is currently carrying out pre-consultation discussions with stakeholders regarding a further eight marine sites in English waters.
	 Closing valuable areas to the most damaging activities
	On 19 June 2008, my predecessor, Jonathan Shaw, made the decision to close an area 60 square nautical miles in Lyme Bay to the most damaging fishing practices. A statutory instrument was signed off by the Minister and laid in Parliament, and came into force on 11 July 2008. Lyme Bay is one of the most important areas for marine life in England, and the decision to close 60 square nautical miles to the most damaging fishing methods demonstrated the Government's commitment to protecting the richness of our marine heritage as part of our goal of living within our environmental means.
	On 6 March 2008, Jonathan Shaw announced his decision to ban scallop dredging and other towed bottom gear from the outer part of the Fal and Helford special area of conservation (SAC). The ban was implemented through a statutory instrument which came into force on 1 October 2008. Following DEFRA's decision to ban scallop dredging, Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee, with support from DEFRA, is considering introducing a byelaw in order to establish an experimental MPA in the outer SAC area for the purposes of assessing and managing the scallop stocks within it. The byelaw would prohibit all forms of scallop harvesting, including through diving. The public consultation on the draft byelaw was concluded on 15 February 2009. Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee is currently assessing the results of the consultation.
	 Working with Europe to protect species and habitats
	At the 60(th) annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which took place in June 2008, the UK played an important role in the conservation and protection of cetaceans worldwide. We were able to defeat a Danish proposal for an annual take of 10 humpback whales in their Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW) hunt, thereby saving the needless slaughter of 50 humpbacks in the period 2008-12. We also made telling interventions on whale welfare; scientific whaling; the plight of the Western Pacific Gray Whale population; recent trade in whale meat from Iceland and Norway to Japan; and the Japanese Dall's porpoise hunt. The UK will continue to strongly support the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling and oppose all forms of whaling, other than limited whaling operations by indigenous people for subsistence purposes to meet a defined and substantiated need.
	 Marine Biodiversity Action Plans (BAPS)
	DEFRA has established a stakeholder group to drive forward the delivery of marine biodiversity. This group is chaired by NE and reports to the England Biodiversity Group.
	Through the Countdown 2010 grant programme, NE specifically called for projects to help the delivery marine biodiversity targets. Three large projects were awarded funds totalling £286,000. These were:
	The Isles of Scilly Marine Biodiversity Project;
	British Elasmobranchs: building and applying knowledge for a sustainable future. This project aims to arrest, and where possible reverse, the decline in elasmobranch (shark, skate and ray) populations; and
	Solent Seal Tagging Project.
	NE also supported the Marine Conservation Society to produce the Marine Local Biodiversity Action Plan Guidance Manual for England published in 2008.
	In addition, NE published a report, State of the Natural Environment, in 2008, a copy of which is available on their website at:
	www.naturalengland.org.uk
	This included a chapter on the marine environment and its biodiversity. Further progress on the delivery of marine BAP targets is being captured through the 2008 Biodiversity Action Plan reporting process. This information is still being collated and will be available shortly.

Redundancy

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2009,  Official Report, column 332W, on redundancy, what estimate he has made of the annual payroll savings resulting from staff exit schemes in  (a) 2005-06,  (b) 2006-07,  (c) 2007-08 and  (d) 2008-09 excluding the cost of severance packages; and what estimate he has made of the equivalent figures for 2009-10.

Huw Irranca-Davies: holding answer 5 February 2009
	DEFRA has run two voluntary early departure schemes since 2006. The first of these ran from December 2006 to July 2007, and the second from September 2007 to January 2008. The material forecast core DEFRA paybill savings up to 2010-11 due to early departures via those schemes are:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2007-08 10 
			 2008-09 17.2 
			 2009-10 17.9 
			 2010-11 18.6 
		
	
	Further analysis is not readily available.

Olympic Games 2012

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Minister for the Olympics pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1115W, on the Olympic games 2012, when each of the key stakeholder forums to design and deliver the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies is to take place; what the location of each is; who has been invited to each; what account the London Olympic Committee plans to take of the outcome of each event; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 6 March 2009
	The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has scheduled a number of ceremony forums in every nation and region across the UK in February and March of this year.
	Confirmed locations include Birmingham, Belfast, Glasgow, Brighton, London, Newcastle, Wakefield, Cambridge, Leicester, Manchester, Cardiff and Plymouth. Each forum includes around 10-15 diverse creative industry experts selected by the creative programmers in each nation and region, and there will also be special ones for young people.
	These are initial fora to scope the ambition of the ceremonies and how to get the whole country involved—they will not finalise the content of the four opening and closing ceremonies to take place in 2012. The results of the fora will inform LOCOG's decision-making processes on the creative brief for the ceremonies in due course.

UK Youth Parliament

Greg Knight: To ask the Leader of the House with reference to the answer of 25 July 2007 to the hon. Member for Stroud,  Official Report, column 1124W, on the UK Youth Parliament, what plans she has to discuss the possible use of the Chamber of the House by the UK Youth Parliament with  (a) the Modernisation of the House of Commons Committee,  (b) other committees of the House and  (c) the House authorities.

Chris Bryant: The issues involved are ones of principle rather than of practice. It is therefore right that the whole House should decide.
	I understand that the House authorities would be able to make appropriate practical arrangements if the House were to decide to allow the Youth Parliament to use the Chamber.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 362W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what the main findings of the internal stock-take of Government policy in Afghanistan completed in December 2008 were.

David Miliband: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1234W.

Climate Change

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 855-6W, on climate change, which new posts for  (a) locally-engaged and  (b) UK-based staff have been created in each of his Department's priority countries for the Government's objectives on climate change.

David Miliband: The distribution of locally engaged and UK based staff in the priority countries for the Government's objectives on climate change are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Country  LE staff  UK based staff 
			 Argentina 1 — 
			 Bangkok 1 — 
			 Beijing 12 8 
			 Berlin 1 — 
			 Bolivia 1 — 
			 Brasilia 6 4 
			 Canada 4 2 
			 Chennai 2 — 
			 Columbia 1 — 
			 Hanoi 1 — 
			 Jakarta 2 2 
			 Kuala Lumpur 1 — 
			 Kolkata 1 — 
			 Madrid 1.5 — 
			 Manila 1 — 
			 Mexico 7 2 
			 Moscow 3 3 
			 Mumbai 1 — 
			 New Delhi 2 3.5 
			 Oslo 1 — 
			 Paris 1.5 — 
			 Peru 1 — 
			 Pretoria 2 1 
			 Rome 1 1 
			 Seoul 2 1 
			 Singapore 1 1 
			 St. Petersburg 1 — 
			 Tokyo 1 1 
			 USA 9 2 
			 Venezuela 1 — 
			 Warsaw 2 1 
			 Total 73 32.5

Departmental Public Expenditure

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 2049W, on exchange rates, which posts overseas reported a decline in the purchasing power of their local budget; and what the value in UK sterling was of the total reported decline.

David Miliband: As of November 2008 a total of 168 posts reported a decline in the purchasing power of their local budget. The total value of this reported decline was £44,176,397 (£27.9 million in April 2008 and a further £16.3 million as of October 2008).
	Set out in the following table are the posts that reported a decline and the value of this decline.
	
		
			  Annex A 
			  £000 
			  Post  Total overseas price movement impact as of October 2008 
			 Abu Dhabi 252.8 
			 Abuja 751.2 
			 Accra 98.0 
			 Addis Ababa 83.4 
			 Algiers 310.2 
			 Amman 405.7 
			 Amsterdam 119.4 
			 Anguilla 12.4 
			 Ankara 501.7 
			 Ashgabat 52.0 
			 Asmara 11.6 
			 Astana 146.2 
			 Athens 546.6 
			 Atlanta 70.5 
			 Auckland 15.3 
			 Baghdad 601.5 
			 Bahrain 61.2 
			 Baku 304.8 
			 Bandar Seri Begawan 55.9 
			 Bangkok 241.0 
			 Banjul 66.9 
			 Basra 251.0 
			 Beijing 940.5 
			 Beirut 148.5 
			 Belgrade 443.6 
			 Belmopan 92.7 
			 Berlin 751.9 
			 Berne 400.3 
			 Bogota 297.1 
			 Bordeaux 15.1 
			 Boston 77.2 
			 Brasilia 564.2 
			 Bratislava 149.5 
			 Bridgetown 135.3 
			 Brisbane 39.3 
			 Brussels 1,481.4 
			 Bucharest 170.0 
			 Budapest 375.5 
			 Buenos Aires 534.3 
			 Cairo 297.0 
			 Canberra 444.1 
			 Cape Town 50.6 
			 Caracas 426.7 
			 Castries 12.7 
			 Chennai 17.0 
			 Chicago 105.5 
			 Chisinau 94.6 
			 Chongqing 79.2 
			 Colombo 389.9 
			 Copenhagen 40.4 
			 Dakar 76.5 
			 Damascus 66.6 
			 Dar Es Salaam 111.9 
			 Dhaka 263.2 
			 Doha 220.2 
			 Dubai 467.3 
			 Dublin 416.9 
			 Dushanbe 63.3 
			 Dusseldorf 505.5 
			 Ekaterinburg 61.4 
			 Freetown 82.0 
			 Gaborone 21.8 
			 Geneva 557.3 
			 Georgetown 61.2 
			 Grand Cayman 15.3 
			 Grand Turk 26.1 
			 Guangzhou 338.1 
			 Guatemala City 101.1 
			 Hanoi 152.6 
			 Havana 83.9 
			 Helsinki 293.4 
			 Ho Chi Minh City 68.5 
			 Hong Kong 375.9 
			 Honiara 16.0 
			 Houston 100.6 
			 Islamabad 176.1 
			 Istanbul 474.2 
			 Jakarta 189.0 
			 Jerusalem 312.8 
			 Johannesburg 51.3 
			 Kabul 818.2 
			 Kampala 110.2 
			 Karachi 6.4 
			 Kathmandu 10.2 
			 Khartoum 303.6 
			 Kiev 390.7 
			 Kigali 53.3 
			 Kingston 361.7 
			 Kinshasa 211.2 
			 Kolkata 8.2 
			 Kuala Lumpur 165.5 
			 Kuwait 348.0 
			 La Paz 92.4 
			 Lagos 1,008.9 
			 Lille 16.7 
			 Lilongwe 47.2 
			 Lima 175.4 
			 Lisbon 283.9 
			 Ljubljana 121.0 
			 Los Angeles 151.1 
			 Luanda 72.3 
			 Lusaka 204.2 
			 Luxembourg 79.1 
			 Lyon 13.3 
			 Madrid 1,202.1 
			 Manila 265.1 
			 Maputo 131.8 
			 Marseille 0.4 
			 Melbourne 70.2 
			 Mexico City 348.2 
			 Minsk 57.1 
			 Montevideo 205.6 
			 Montreal 17.1 
			 Moscow 314.3 
			 Mumbai 24.8 
			 Munich 131.6 
			 Muscat 196.2 
			 Nairobi 576.8 
			 New Delhi 158.6 
			 New York BCG 272.1 
			 New York UKMIS 59.6 
			 Nicosia 347.4 
			 Osaka 202.5 
			 Oslo 157.4 
			 Ottawa 279.4 
			 Panama City 59.6 
			 Paris 1,615.9 
			 Perth 32.2 
			 Phnom Penh 136.4 
			 Plymouth 13.2 
			 Port Louis 92.5 
			 Port Moresby 69.1 
			 Port of Spain 172.8 
			 Prague 453.9 
			 Pretoria 169.1 
			 Pristina 141.9 
			 Quito 66.9 
			 Rabat 278.1 
			 Rangoon 173.3 
			 Riga 145.1 
			 Rio de Janeiro 276.4 
			 Riyadh 543.4 
			 Rome 1,135.6 
			 San Francisco 89.8 
			 San Jose 62.5 
			 Sanaa 192.7 
			 Santiago 199.0 
			 Santo Domingo 29.9 
			 Sao Paulo 357.2 
			 Sarajevo 166.4 
			 Shanghai 369.6 
			 Singapore 339.5 
			 Skopje 250.2 
			 Sofia 266.3 
			 St. Georges 3.4 
			 St. Johns 4.1 
			 St. Petersburg 217.0 
			 Stockholm 281.4 
			 Strasbourg 3.5 
			 Suva 51.0 
			 Sydney 126.5 
			 Taipei 150.1 
			 Tallinn 145.5 
			 Tashkent 127.4 
			 Tbilisi 203.1 
			 Tehran 643.8 
			 Tel Aviv 523.4 
			 The Hague 331.5 
			 Tirana 64.1 
			 Tokyo 923.7 
			 Toronto 108.5 
			 Tortola 15.3 
			 Tripoli 302.5 
			 Tunis 125.0 
			 Ulaanbaatar 33.5 
			 Valletta 113.9 
			 Vancouver 39.5 
			 Victoria 7.5 
			 Vienna 568.5 
			 Vilnius 108.0 
			 Warsaw 615.9 
			 Washington 617.9 
			 Wellington 49.6 
			 Yaounde 97.5 
			 Yerevan 107.6 
			 Zagreb 213.8 
			 Total OPM Uplift 44,176.4

Gulf of Aden: Piracy

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer of 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 169W, on Yemen: piracy, how many incidents of piracy were recorded in the Gulf of Aden in  (a) November and December 2008 and  (b) 2009 to date.

David Miliband: The information is in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 November to December 2008 29 
			 2009 to 5 March 2009 23

India: Christianity

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received of  (a) closures of churches in India and  (b) the treatment of Christians in that country; what recent representations he has made to the government of India on the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have received reports of churches in Karnataka being temporarily closed from 24 December 2008 to 4 January 2009 following allegations of forced conversions made by groups including the Hindu Jagarana Vedike. However, on 24 December 2008, the Karnataka High Court permitted some of these churches to conduct prayers during this period. The churches have now been re-opened.
	An EU delegation, which included a representative from our high commission in New Delhi, visited Orissa between 9 and 12 December 2008 to assess the latest situation. They observed that Orissa remained tense and unsettled and that some of those affected by the violence had still not returned to their homes. The Orissa state authorities advised the delegation that all measures had been taken to prevent any repetition of the widespread violence that took place in 2007 and 2008.
	My noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown discussed the situation with Anand Sharma, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs, and Mohammed Qureshi, Chairman of the Indian Minorities Commission, when he visited New Delhi on 17 October 2008. Our high commission in New Delhi also raised the issue of religious minorities at the EU-India Human Rights Dialogue on 27 February 2009.

Sri Lanka: Armed Conflict

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps  (a) his Department and  (b) the Prime Minister's special envoy has taken to facilitate peace in Sri Lanka in the last three months; how many times he has (i) corresponded and (ii) had discussions with the government of Sri Lanka on the political situation in that country in the last three months; what reports he has received of the number of people killed in the conflict in Sri Lanka (A) in total and (B) in the last three months; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made clear to the House on 24 February 2009,  Official Report, column 140, the recent military advances by the Sri Lankan government and the subsequent humanitarian crisis is of continuing serious concern.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has repeatedly called for a humanitarian ceasefire and has made clear our view that a political solution addressing the legitimate concerns of all communities in Sri Lanka is the only way to bring a sustainable end to the conflict.
	Given our concerns, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister appointed the right hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Des Browne) as his special envoy for Sri Lanka on 12 February 2009. Mr Browne has attended briefing meetings with Ministers, parliamentarians and officials. He has also met with international partners who share our concerns on the situation in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government has yet to accept the appointment.
	We are in regular contact with the government of Sri Lanka. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote to President Rajapakse in January. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has spoken to both President Rajapakse and Foreign Minister Bogollagama on a number of occasions regarding the situation in Sri Lanka, most recently on 16 February 2009. Officials at our high commission maintain regular contact with the Sri Lankan government.
	It is not possible to obtain accurate information on the number of casualties killed in recent fighting, due to the ongoing military hostilities and the lack of independent information emerging from northern Sri Lanka. Various reports estimate that over 70,000 people have died in the Sri Lankan conflict since it began in 1983.

Terrorism: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1413W, on terrorism: finance, how much his Department plans to spend  (a) in each country and  (b) on each type of project in each year from 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Bill Rammell: The £80 million allocated to tackle radicalisation and promote understanding overseas will be £20 million, £23 million and £37 million over three years from 2008-09 to 2010-11 respectively. We expect spending to be focused on south and south-east Asia, the middle-east, north and east Africa. Allocations depend both on the priority accorded to that country and the quality of project proposals submitted for funding.
	Projects include work to strengthen institutions, counter grievances and increase the resilience of communities to radicalisation.

Terrorism: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1413W, on terrorism: finance, what criteria his Department is using to allocate funding to  (a) countries and  (b) projects; and how he plans to assess the effectiveness of such expenditure.

Bill Rammell: Criteria for allocating funding to counter radicalisation work in specific countries are based on an assessment across Government of the threat to the UK and UK interests overseas from and in that country. Individual projects are assessed on the contribution they can make to reduce the threat. Project impact is carefully monitored through a process agreed with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and the National Audit Office.

Tony Blair

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2009,  Official Report, column 893W, on Tony Blair, what proportion of Tony Blair's office costs as Quartet Representative the contribution to the UN Development Trust Fund represents.

Bill Rammell: The UN Development Trust Fund consists of US dollars (USD) 10.4 million and is used to fund the Office of the Quartet Representative. The UK contribution to this fund in 2007 was £400,000, which by the exchange rate of that date was equivalent to approximately USD 800,000. Therefore, the UK contribution represented approximately 7.7 per cent. of the total Trust Fund.

Western Sahara: Politics and Government

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 240W, on Western Sahara: politics and government, whether the discussions between EU member states, the European Commission and Morocco have included a request to Morocco to comply with UN resolutions calling for a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.

Bill Rammell: Western Sahara was discussed during the EU-Morocco Association Council on 13 October 2008. During the meeting the EU stated its regret at the lack of progress towards settlement of the dispute over Western Sahara and reaffirmed that the next Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General must resume and continue the work of their predecessor.

Written Questions: Government Responses

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to answer Question 243941, tabled on 10 December 2008, on the effect of exchange rate movements on the cost of subscriptions to international organisations.

David Miliband: The right hon. Member's question was answered on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1238W.

Written Questions: Government Responses

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to answer Question 243942, tabled on 10 December 2008, on the cost of subscriptions to international organisations by his Department.

David Miliband: The right hon. Member's question was answered on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column, 1239W. The delay in replying was due to administrative error.

Written Questions: Government Responses

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to answer Question 243846, tabled on 10 December 2008, on departmental public expenditure.

David Miliband: The right hon. Member's question was answered on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1237W.

Defence: Procurement

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the estimated cost of the Typhoon Future Capability programme was on 31 March  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008, broken down by (i) direct resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL), (ii) indirect resource DEL and (iii) capital DEL.

Quentin Davies: The information is shown in the following table, which includes the cost of the assessment, demonstration and manufacture phases.
	
		
			  £  million 
			   31 March 2007  31 March 2008 
			 Direct Resource DEL 13 18 
			 Indirect Resource DEL 39 34 
			 Capital DEL 436 428 
			 Total 488 480

Departmental Training

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hammersmith and Fulham of 11 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1994W, on departmental training, what form the pre-deployment training took; where it was held; how much it cost; and which Ministers undertook it.

Kevan Jones: All current Defence Ministers have received mandatory briefings on safety and security and survival, evasion, resistance and extraction prior to visiting operational theatres. The training took place in central London. Details of the small additional costs, relating only to travel and subsistence for the trainers, are not held centrally.

Navy: Deployment

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1878W, on Navy: deployment, what the outcome of his Department's consideration of the commitment of naval resources to combat arms smuggling into Gaza has been; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: We are currently exploring a number of contingency options directed at countering arms smuggling into Gaza.
	As part of this process, the UK participated in a conference on the 4-5 February in Copenhagen discussing how the international community might strengthen its efforts to help prevent the illicit flow of weapons into Gaza and agreed to meet again to explore further the measures discussed.
	The UK will host the next conference in London on 13 March.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has commissioned research on the latency of post-traumatic stress disorder since 2003.

Kevan Jones: Since 2003 there has been one study commissioned by the Ministry of Defence into the latency of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) conducted by University College London. The purpose of the study was to determine the existence or otherwise of delayed-onset PTSD and its prevalence among veterans in receipt of a war pension. The findings of the study are due to be published later this year.

Shoplifting: Fixed Penalties

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1548W, on shoplifting: fixed penalties, what length of time should have passed before a previous shoplifting offence should be taken into account when considering whether to issue a second penalty notice; and whether the ability of the offender to pay is taken into account in deciding whether to issue a second notice.

Jack Straw: Further to the reply given on 9 February, the guidance is designed to help with the exercise of a police officer's discretion in issuing a penalty notice for disorder. No specific time period is set after which a further PND may be issued, but the guidance to forces makes clear that it will not be appropriate to do so where there has been another shoplifting offence in the recent past.
	No means testing is involved in the issue of a penalty notice for disorder for a first or subsequent offence. The success of the scheme depends on the speed and simplicity of issuing a ticket. The existing guidance states that a penalty notice for disorder will not be appropriate where no satisfactory address exists for enforcement purposes, possibly because the suspect may be homeless or sleeping rough.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he expects to answer question 254428, on offences relating to domestic violence, tabled on 2 February 2009.

Bridget Prentice: The question was transferred to the Solicitor-General on 4 February 2009. The Ministry of Justice's parliamentary branch wrote to the hon. Member on that day informing him of the transfer.

10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 978W, on 10 Downing Street: repairs and maintenance, if he will place in the Library  (a) a copy of the non-intervention letter sent by English Heritage and  (b) a copy of the plans that were sent to and are held by English Heritage, redacting elements which could compromise security arrangements.

Barbara Follett: I am arranging for copies of English Heritage's non-intervention letter of 7 February to Westminster city council, with regard to repairs and maintenance to 10 Downing street, to be placed in the House Libraries.
	However, I am informed by officials at 10 Downing street that for security reasons, it is their policy not to release any information about the floor plans or the layout of the Downing street complex.

Bradford and Bingley

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the Bradford and Bingley plc Transfer of Securities and Property etc (Amendment) Order 2009, dated 19 February 2009, whether his Department plans to compensate the shareholders of Bradford and Bingley plc on the same basis as proposed in the Bradford and Bingley Compensation Scheme Order 2008.

Ian Pearson: The purpose of the Bradford and Bingley plc Transfer of Securities and Property etc. (Amendment) Order 2009 is to provide clarity in relation to the circumstances in which principal and interest on the dated subordinated notes issued by Bradford and Bingley will become due and payable.
	It makes no change to the arrangements to compensate former shareholders of Bradford and Bingley as set out in the Bradford and Bingley Compensation Scheme Order 2008.
	For the hon. Member's information the Treasury has also laid before Parliament a draft order entitled the Bradford and Bingley plc Compensation Scheme (Amendment) Order 2009. The effect of the amendment made by article 2 of the draft order is to ensure that the independent valuer appointed in accordance with the Bradford and Bingley plc Compensation Scheme Order 2008 must assess any compensation payable for any interferences in a person's consequential rights taking into account the amendments made by the Bradford and Bingley plc.
	Transfer of Securities and Property etc. (Amendment) Order 2009. The draft Order was laid before Parliament on 25 February 2009, and is expected to be debated later this month.

Financial Services: EU Action

William Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of his letter of 3 March 2009 to other EU Finance Ministers and the Commission on EU-wide supervision of financial services and banking.

Ian Pearson: I have deposited a copy of the Chancellor's letter in the Library of the House of Commons.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letters of 20 October and 18 November 2008 from the hon. Member for Weston-Super-Mare sent on behalf of a constituent, Mr. Mark Templeman.

Ian Pearson: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

Valuation Office: Cole Layer Trumble

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1113W, on the Valuation Office: Cole Layer Trumble, whether a copy of the agreement between Cole Layer Trumble/Tyler Technologies and the organisation which acts as the agent of the Valuation Office Agency is held by the Valuation Office Agency; and who the parties to the agreement are.

Stephen Timms: The Valuation Office Agency does not hold a copy of the agreement. The Agency's IT supplier, Capgemini, manages its own agreement with Cole Layer Trumble/Tyler Technologies. The original agreement was between Cole Layer Trumble and the VOA's previous IT supplier, EDS.

Valuation Office: Rightmove

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 964W, on the Valuation Office: Rightmove, on what date the new contract was signed between Rightmove.co.uk plc and HM Revenue and Customs, on behalf of the Valuation Office Agency; and what the  (a) minimum and  (b) maximum length of the new contract is.

Stephen Timms: No new contract exists—an existing contract was extended; I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 2 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 904W and 905W.

Child Support Agency: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will arrange for a reply to be sent to the letter of 16 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Walsall North to the Child Support Agency regarding a constituent, reference CCDBAS12795 and RFA3696328120.

Kitty Ussher: holding answer 12 February 2009
	The administration of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission is a matter for the Commissioner. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Child Maintenance Commissioner as the Child Support Agency is now the responsibility of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will arrange for a reply to be sent to the letter of 16 December 2008 from the hon. Member for Walsall North to the Child Support Agency regarding a constituent, reference CCDBAS12795 and RFA 3696328120.
	William O'Donnell, the manager of our Falkirk Clerical office, wrote to you on 10 February 2009 in reply to your correspondence of 16 December 2008. In his letter Mr O'Donnell confirms that all child maintenance payments owed to Mrs MacKenzie have now been paid.
	I am sorry that Mrs MacKenzie has encountered problems in her dealings with the Agency and trust this letter clarifies the situation.

Departmental Official Engagements

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Ministers' official engagements were from 1 November to 30 November 2008.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 December 2008
	The information that the hon. Member has requested has been placed in the Library. These also include official and regional engagements as my regional Ministers do discuss departmental business at these events.

Jobcentre Plus: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when Bathgate Jobcentre Plus plans to reply to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Edinburgh West of 19 January 2009 and 12 February 2009 on his constituent Evelyn Smith.

Tony McNulty: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when Bathgate Jobcentre Plus plans to reply to your correspondence of 19 January 2009 and 12 February 2009 about your constituent Evelyn Smith. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	I am sorry that you did not receive a reply to your correspondence within a reasonable time and would like to apologise for any inconvenience this delay caused.
	Unfortunately, Bathgate Benefit Delivery Centre has no record of receiving your correspondence of 19 January, but I can confirm that the Centre Manager responded to your letter of 12 February on 4 March and attach a copy for your convenience and ease of reference.

New Deal Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether any changes have been made to the original performance and funding expectations of the flexible New Deal;
	(2)  when phase one of the flexible new deal is planned to commence;
	(3)  on what date  (a) the preferred bidders for the flexible New Deal phase 1 will be announced and  (b) will the contract be awarded.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 February 2009
	The competition for contracts to deliver flexible new deal is under way. 124 bids were submitted and these are being evaluated.
	We have notified providers of a short pause in the competition to enable us to jointly consider the impact and options to address the financial challenges in the initial phase of the contract.
	The Department will retain a performance and payment regime based on outcomes, providing shortlisted bidders with the opportunity to develop innovative individually tailored solutions. Our expectation is to have a funding model based on 80 per cent. (outcome) and 20 per cent. (fee based) as originally tabled. However, in the initial phase of the contract (first 18-months), the Department will consider alternative models based on a higher service fee element.
	We expect to notify bidders of results during April and contracts to be awarded by the end of May 2009.
	The Government remains committed to bringing in the flexible new deal phase 1
	from October 2009.

Pensions: Insolvency

Gisela Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government taking a majority stake in a company in order to prevent it from bankruptcy would be considered an insolvency event for the purpose of the Pension Protection Funds.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 5 March 2009
	No. For the purposes of the Pension Protection Fund, an insolvency event occurs if it is an event as described within the Pensions Act 2004. Section 121 of that Act sets out when an insolvency event occurs in relation to an individual, a company or a partnership. For a company, an insolvency event may, for example, occur when an administrative receiver is appointed or the company enters administration under the provisions of the Insolvency Act 1986. It would not be an insolvency event for the Government to take a majority stake in a company.

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons his Department does not provide  (a) an income support,  (b) an employment support allowance,  (c) an incapacity benefit,  (d) a winter fuel allowance and  (e) a jobseeker's allowance hotline for hon. Members.

Tony McNulty: Jobcentre Plus district managers should be in regular contact with their local MPs in order to offer the personal assistance they need. Jobcentre Plus district managers have been asked to write to their MPs to reinforce this offer of help. Any hon. Member with a query about any benefits should contact the Jobcentre Plus district manager who has overall responsibility for the service to local residents. This will give hon. Members effective support for a range of different queries.
	The Pension, Disability and Carers Service provide a dedicated telephone service for the express use of Members of Parliament who require information on pensioner or disability and carer related matters.

Winter Fuel Payments

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people entitled to a winter fuel payment in West Chelmsford constituency are yet to receive their payment from the last round of applications.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not available.
	Of the 12 million winter fuel payments made every year, the vast majority, over 95 per cent. are made automatically before Christmas based on information already held in DWP records. In these cases individuals do not need to make a claim.
	However, there is a small group of people who may qualify for a winter fuel payment who need to make a claim. This is usually because they are not in receipt of a state pension or other benefit administered by the DWP. Claims for winter 2008-09 must be received by 30 March 2009. Payments are made in stages between November 2008 and May 2009 depending on when the application and supporting information is received.
	In winter 2006-07, the last year for which figures are available, 20,330 people in the West Chelmsford Constituency received a winter fuel payment. We expect to make a similar number of payments this year.

Alcoholic Drinks: Antisocial Behaviour

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of defendants aged between 10 and 17 years there were for being drunk and disorderly in each police force area in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008.

Alan Campbell: Data showing the number of defendants proceeded against, found guilty, cautioned and issued with a penalty notice for disorder for drunk and disorderly behaviour, in England and Wales for each year from 2005 to 2007, broken down by age, sex and police force area can be found in the tables placed in the House Library.

Alcoholic Drinks: Antisocial Behaviour

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals aged over 65 years resident in each  (a) London borough and  (b) Government Office region were arrested or issued with a penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly in the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The number of persons aged 65 years and over issued with a penalty notice for disorder (PND) for being drunk and disorderly, from 2004, when the scheme was implemented in all 43 police forces in England and Wales, to 2007 (latest available) are given in the table by Government office region.
	PND data are collected centrally at police force area level; data for the London boroughs are not available. PND data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally. The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery.
	The alcohol related offences presented in the table are not notifiable offences and do not form part of the arrests collection.
	
		
			  Number of penalty notices for disorder issued to persons aged 65 and over for being drunk and disorderly( 1) , by Government office region, from 2004 - 07 
			  Region  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 London 62 29 31 21 
			 North East 2 2 8 11 
			 North West 11 26 16 31 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 7 17 16 11 
			 East Midlands 3 6 4 7 
			 West Midlands 14 10 8 17 
			 East of England 7 8 9 4 
			 South East 11 18 18 17 
			 South West 6 17 11 11 
			 Wales 5 7 7 6 
			 (1) Data include the following offence descriptions and corresponding statutes: Being found drunk in a highway or other public place, whether a building or not, or on licensed premises—Licensing Act 1872, section 12; Being guilty while drunk of disorderly behaviour—Criminal Justice Act 1967, section 91. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis Unit

Anabolic Steroids

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been  (a) cautioned and  (b) convicted of supplying anabolic steroids in each of the last five years; and how many of those convicted were subsequently given the maximum possible sentence.

Alan Campbell: Information provided by the Ministry of Justice on the number of persons cautioned or found guilty at all courts for supplying anabolic steroids in England and Wales from 2003 to 2007 (latest available) are given in the table. Of those persons convicted none received the maximum sentence.
	Cautions and court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  N umber of persons cautioned or found guilty at all courts for supplying anabolic steroids( 1) , England and Wales, 2003-07( 2,3) 
			   Number cautioned  Number found guilty 
			 2003(4) — 3 
			 2004 2 3 
			 2005 1 4 
			 2006 1 — 
			 2007 — 4 
			 (1) Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 s.4(3): Supplying or offering to supply a controlled drug—Anabolic Steroids. (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) From 1 June 2000 the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Evidence and Analysis unit

Crime Prevention

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department is taking to tackle  (a) gun crime,  (b) urban crime,  (c) rural crime,  (d) credit card fraud and  (e) fraudulent and spam phishing emails.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 9 March 2009
	The information is as follows:
	 (a) The Department has taken a range of steps to deal with gun crime including setting up the Tackling Gangs Action programme, which ran from September 2007 to March 2008. The programme saw a reduction of 51 per cent. in firearms-related injuries and a 27 per cent. drop in all recorded firearm offences across the four TGAP areas. Communities in those areas reported being more aware of police activity during TGAP and a further £1.8 million has been allocated to build on these successes.
	One of the key strands in our programme of work is prevention—empowering communities to work with local agencies to take action to prevent gun crime and gang culture and offering support to parents to challenge their children's behaviour.
	We have also been working with the police to develop state-of-the-art imaging technology to provide information and intelligence on firearms used in crimes.
	NABIS, which went live in November, is an invaluable tool to police forces round the country. We are of course also continuing to work with SOCA and HMRC to prevent and detect illegal firearms entering the UK.
	 (b) and  (c) The Government's current crime strategy 2008-2011 covers the spectrum of crime—from antisocial behaviour to serious organised crime—whether it takes place in an urban or rural setting. The strategy framework aims to; intervene early to prevent offending, take action to reduce opportunity through situational crime prevention, and ensure that there is robust enforcement and action to reduce re-offending. These are all applicable to both urban and rural settings. The strategy, which has been built upon by the Policing Green Paper and measures in the Police and Crime Reduction Bill, placed real emphasis on local flexibility to tackle local priorities to allow local partners to tailor their response to reflect local need (where issues arising from an urban or rural setting might occur).
	 (d) We are working closely with the credit card industry to encourage wider adoption by retailers and cardholders of new anti fraud initiatives, with particular emphasis on card not present fraud, such as verified by Visa and Mastercard SecureCode.
	More generally, Government have allocated £29 million over three years to implement the recommendations of the fraud review. This includes the creation of a National Fraud Strategic Authority, launched last October; a new national lead force role for the City of London police; and a National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC), expected to be fully operational in 2010, which will radically streamline the way that the public report fraud to the police. The NFRC will also equip law enforcement agencies with a powerful intelligence tool and help form the basis of better prevention advice and alerts to fraud threats for business and the public.
	 (e) The Government introduced statutory controls in the UK on unsolicited spam e-mails under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, which came into force on 11 December 2003. They provide a first line of defence against the kind of unsolicited e mails that many people object to where they have no knowledge of the advertiser or the products being marketed. The regulations require that unsolicited spam e mails must not be sent to an individual subscriber unless prior permission has been obtained or unless there is a previous relationship between the parties. The regulations can be enforced against an offending company or individual anywhere in the European Union (EU).

Departmental Public Appointments

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department holds on the number of persons appointed to executive positions in bodies for which her Department has responsibility in the last five years who previously had careers in the banking industry.

Phil Woolas: The information is not held centrally and to obtain would incur disproportionate costs.

Drugs: Crime

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information her Department has collected on the relationship between retail theft and  (a) drug and  (b) alcohol addiction; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The relationship between any crime and drug or alcohol misuse is complex. There is some evidence which points to the relationship between acquisitive crimes and drug misuse. The links between acquisitive crime and alcohol are less clear in the current evidence base. The information held by the Department does not focus specifically on retail theft, but focuses on the broader categories of 'theft' or 'acquisitive crime'.
	The Department has commissioned a number of studies which provide information on the relationship between acquisitive crime and drug/or alcohol use. In addition, monitoring data from the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) is routinely collated.
	 The Arrestee Survey: provides information on arrestees' self-reported offending while using drugs and reported crimes committed in order to buy/get hold of drugs. The survey also provides data for the number of arrestees who are assessed on the basis of a validated tool as being 'alcohol dependent'.
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/hosb1207.pdf
	 The Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study: is a representative study of drug treatment-seekers in England and Wales. The findings from this survey provide information on the number of treatment-seekers who had committed offences prior to interview, the number committing offences in order to buy drugs, and the numbers committing offences while under the influence of drugs.
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs07/horr03c.pdf
	 The Offending Crime and Justice Survey, a survey of offending among young people in the general population, asks whether offenders who had committed 'other thefts' (including retail but not limited to) had taken alcohol or drugs at the time of the offence.
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1706.pdf
	 The Drug Interventions Programme provides information on the number of positive drug tests (class A, specifically heroin, crack and cocaine) in 107 basic command units (BCUs) for those arrested and charged with a number of trigger offences, including theft.

Drugs: Hemel Hempstead

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which schemes have received funding under the Communities Against Drugs Initiative in the Hemel Hempstead constituency in each year since 1997; how much was received under each scheme; and what targets were set relating to crime reduction under each scheme.

Alan Campbell: The Communities Against Drugs (CAD) initiative was launched in April 2001. It was designed to provide funding to local areas to implement action to tackle local drugs issues. Under the initiative, Dacorum borough council received £108,500 in 2001-02 and in 2002-03.
	From 2003-04 CAD funding, the Partnership Development Fund and the Safer Communities Initiative Fund were combined to create the Building Safer Communities Fund (BSC). The BSC was designed to enable local crime and drugs partnerships to take a more flexible approach to the use of funds to reduce crime and other drug-related problems. Under the BSC scheme, Dacorum received £147,372 in 2003-04 and £151,056 in both 2004-05 and 2005-06.
	In 2005-06 BSC fund formed part of the Home Office contribution to the Safer Stronger Communities Fund (SSCF), a joint Communities and Local Government (CLG)-Home Office funding stream aimed at tackling crime, drugs, antisocial behaviour, empowering communities, improving the condition of streets and public spaces and prioritising the most deprived neighbourhoods. SSCF was paid, through CLG, to unitary and top-tier authorities.
	From April 2008, SSCF has formed part of the Area Based Grant (ABG). The ABG is paid, through CLG, to local authorities on a three-year basis, in the form of a general non-ringfenced revenue grant, providing local authorities with certainty and flexibility of funding to meet local priorities.

Entry Clearances

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 152W, on entry clearances, what the  (a) maximum,  (b) minimum and  (c) average processing time was for those applications not processed within the public service agreement target times; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: In financial year 2007-08 we only measured visa processing times against PSA targets. We did not monitor performance outside these targets. New customer service standards for visa processing times were introduced in January 2009 and are published on the Border Agency's Visa Services website, together with actual monthly processing times for each visa-issuing post. These are end-to-end processing times which include processing at Visa Application Centres (run by our commercial partners) as well as processing at Visa Sections.

Immigration: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals seeking indefinite leave to remain who are resident in Peterborough constituency have been waiting for their determination of status for a period of  (a) less than 12 months,  (b) between 12 and 24 months,  (c) between 24 and 36 months and  (d) more than 36 months; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The following table details the number of applicants resident in Peterborough awaiting a decision on their indefinite leave to remain application broken down by specified periods, but without reference to the reason.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.
	
		
			  Applicants recorded as being resident in the Peterborough postal area awaiting a decision regarding an application for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, by specified period, on 15 January 2009 
			   Number 
			 Less than 12 months 110 
			 12-24 months 10 
			 24-36 months 25 
			 More than 36 months 40 
			 Total 185 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five 2 Data relates to lead applicants only  Source:  UKBA Case Information Database

Religious Buildings: Wiltshire

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many places of religious worship of each faith denomination in  (a) Salisbury constituency and  (b) Wiltshire (i) are certified under the Places of Religious Worship Registration Act 1855 and (ii) have been so certified in each of the last five years.

Shahid Malik: I have been asked to reply.
	The register of buildings registered for worship is not held in a format that can be readily broken down into individual parliamentary constituencies. The closest geographical area for registration purposes which includes Salisbury and Wiltshire is the registration district of Wiltshire. There are currently 260 places of meeting for religious worship certified under the Act for the registration district of Wiltshire. These are broken down by faith and denomination as follows:
	
		
			  Faith  Number of buildings 
			 Roman Catholics 26 
			 Methodists 82 
			 Congregationalists 10 
			 Baptists 61 
			 United Reformed 19 
			 Brethren 3 
			 Salvation Army 5 
			 Unitarians 1 
			 Society of Friends 4 
			 Jehovah's Witness 8 
			 Other Christian Bodies 41 
			  Note: "Other Christian Bodies" includes Christian denominations such as Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Spiritualists and Independents. 
		
	
	During the last five years the following places of meeting for religious worship have been certified by faith and denomination in the registration district of Wiltshire:
	
		
			  Faith  Number of places of meeting 
			  2005  
			 Christians not otherwise designated 1 
			   
			  2006  
			 Baptists 1

Travel Requirements: Fraud

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many detections of instances of travel document fraud were made at  (a) ports of entry and  (b) compliance offices since 1 May 2004 in respect of travel documents issued by EU member states, broken down by issuing state.

Phil Woolas: h olding answer 27 January 2009
	 : The following tables detail the detections of false European Union documents at UK border agency border force offices and immigration group enforcement offices for the period in question. They include passports, identity cards, refugee travel documents and emergency travel documents.
	
		
			  Border  f orce detections of false EU travel document s 
			  Country  2004( 1)  2005  2006  2007  2008  Total 
			 AUT-Austria 30 28 18 15 8 99 
			 BEL-Belgium 249 140 91 60 97 637 
			 BGR-Bulgaria n/a n/a n/a 87 113 200 
			 CYP-Cyprus 3 4 4 12 20 43 
			 CZE-Czech 56 71 80 50 44 301 
			 D-Germany 178 121 87 50 44 480 
			 DNK-Denmark 41 60 57 15 16 189 
			 ESP-Spain 78 100 78 32 41 329 
			 EST-Estonia 8 12 1 3 8 32 
			 FIN-Finland 3 5 4 16 20 48 
			 FRA-France 497 536 310 143 207 1,693 
			 GBR-Great Britain 656 622 367 348 283 2,276 
			 GRC-Greece 146 137 97 65 85 530 
			 HUN-Hungary 37 99 79 7 8 230 
			 IRL-Ireland 11 20 8 3 4 46 
			 ITA-Italy 221 218 228 162 157 986 
			 LTU-Lithuania 295 460 261 103 105 1,224 
			 LUX-Luxembourg 1 1 0 0 0 2 
			 LVA-Latvia 15 51 75 37 23 201 
			 MLT-Malta 1 0 1 2 3 7 
			 NLD-Netherlands 475 264 152 118 95 1,104 
			 POL-Poland 71 140 178 107 110 606 
			 PRT-Portugal 256 243 243 163 145 1,050 
			 ROU-Romania n/a n/a n/a 130 83 213 
			 SVK-Slovakia 46 50 56 56 56 264 
			 SVN-Slovenia 19 13 25 17 12 86 
			 SWE-Sweden 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Total 3,393 3,395 2,500 1,801 1,788 12,877 
		
	
	
		
			  Immigration group enforcement detections of false EU travel documents 
			  Country  2004( 1)  2005  2006  2007  2008  Total 
			 AUT-Austria 0 1 0 1 0 2 
			 BEL-Belgium 23 52 44 88 75 282 
			 BGR-Bulgaria n/a n/a n/a 5 7 12 
			 CYP-Cyprus 0 0 0 2 1 3 
			 CZE-Czech 2 1 8 15 6 32 
			 D-Germany 0 1 2 23 7 33 
			 DNK-Denmark 10 11 15 12 8 56 
			 ESP-Spain 19 31 62 77 54 243 
			 EST-Estonia 2 0 7 4 2 15 
			 FIN-Finland 2 1 0 5 3 11 
			 FRA-France 120 138 157 159 147 721 
			 GBR-Great Britain 24 66 91 91 69 341 
			 GRC-Greece 29 52 52 42 24 199 
			 HUN-Hungary 0 3 8 0 1 12 
			 IRL-Ireland 2 0 2 1 0 5 
			 ITA-Italy 64 78 132 119 76 469 
			 LTU-Lithuania 77 91 62 57 48 335 
			 LUX-Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 LVA-Latvia 1 11 28 33 12 85 
			 MLT-Malta 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 NLD-Netherlands 14 42 33 31 20 140 
			 POL-Poland 28 3 15 7 7 60 
			 PRT-Portugal 85 130 100 197 125 637 
			 ROU-Romania n/a n/a n/a 9 16 25 
			 SVK-Slovakia 0 6 4 9 3 22 
			 SVN-Slovenia 0 0 12 4 4 20 
			 SWE-Sweden 2 0 4 1 1 8 
			 Total 504 718 838 992 716 3,768 
			 (1) From 1 May 2004

UK Border Agency: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the UK Border Agency plans to reply to the letter of 6 November 2008 (Special Delivery reference ZC982623786GB), the email of 2 December 2008 and letter of 19 January 2009 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, sent on behalf of Satnam Kaur Thomas (Home Office reference number J1055280).

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to the right hon. Member on 5 March 2009.

Community Relations

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2008,  Official Report, columns 582-3W, on community relations, when Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary plans to report on its inspection of Prevent performance in police forces in England and Wales.

Vernon Coaker: I have been asked to reply.
	Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary are nearing completion of their inspection of police Prevent activity, and plan to report their findings in April 2009.

Departmental Furniture

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 27 January 2009,  Official Report, column 343W, on departmental furniture, which suppliers provided furniture and fitting services to her Department in 2007-08.

Sadiq Khan: The firms who supplied furniture and fittings to the Department were Herman Miller, Steelcase Solutions and Office Storage Solutions Ltd.

Departmental Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments for  (a) polling and  (b) other services her Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Limited since 31 December 2007; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: No payments have been made to Deborah Mattinson and only one payment has been made to Opinion Leader Research since 31 December 2007. The payment to Opinion Leader Research was £55,210. This was in connection with a contract to carry out research to develop the evidence base for the PSA 16 settled accommodation indicators.

Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 724W, on New Dimension Programme, if she will place in the Library a copy of the report by NERA UK Ltd on the New Dimension Programme.

Sadiq Khan: The report will be placed in the Library of the House when completed, which is expected to be April 2009.

Fire Services

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 634-5W, on fire services, if she will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meetings of the Fireguard project board that are held by Firebuy.

Sadiq Khan: The minutes of the meeting of the Fireguard project board were produced by the Chief Fire Officers' Association. It is for them to decide if copies can be made publicly available.

Fire Services: Medals

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 770W, on fire services, if she will make it her policy to make staff in regional fire control rooms eligible for the Fire Brigade's Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

Sadiq Khan: Staff in the new regional control centres controlled by local authority owned companies will not be in fire brigade employment and will not therefore be eligible for the Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medal under the terms of the Royal Warrant. There is currently no proposal to change the Royal Warrant.

Firebuy

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, column 631W, on the departmental expenditure limit, if she will set out what the nature, parties and status was of the legal dispute over Firebuy and the Integrated Clothing Project procurement.

Sadiq Khan: The legal dispute concerned the procurement process for the Integrated Clothing Project and was brought by Lion Apparel Systems Ltd against Firebuy Ltd. An agreement has now been reached between the parties to settle the dispute and all claims against Firebuy have been withdrawn.

Firebuy

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, column 631W, on the departmental expenditure limit, for what purposes the remaining £1.9 million of public funds was transferred to Firebuy.

Sadiq Khan: CLG has provided £1.9 million in 2008-09 to cover the forecast running costs of Firebuy Ltd.

Housing: EC Action

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 775W, on housing: EC action, what timetable has been set for conducting the impact assessment of the EU proposal; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the completed assessment.

Iain Wright: The impact assessment is currently being prepared and we are aiming for it to be completed by the end of this month. A copy of the completed assessment will be placed in the Library of the House.

Non-Domestic Rates: Business

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the merits of local authorities being able to levy a business rate.

John Healey: The Lyons Inquiry into local government considered the case for returning business rates to local control. Its analysis was that this would not be appropriate at the current time. The Government agreed. However, Sir Michael Lyons' did recommend introducing a new local flexibility to set a supplement on business rates.
	In October 2007, alongside the 2007 Pre-Budget Report and comprehensive spending review, the Government published 'Business rate supplements: a White Paper'. The Business Rate Supplements Bill was then introduced in the House of Commons on 4 December 2008 and gives effect to the Government's proposals in the White Paper. The Bill provides the Greater London Authority and, outside London, upper tier local authorities a discretionary power to levy a supplement on the business rate and retain and invest the proceeds in additional projects aimed at promoting the economic development of local areas.

Rodents

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 711W, on rodents, what the timetable is for the publication of English Condition Survey research relating to the period after 2003-04.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I have been asked to reply.
	Information from the next English House Condition Survey on rodent presence in domestic premises should be available this year, although at present there is no set date for publication.

Tenant Services Authority

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 784W, on the Tenant Services Authority: publicity, whether external firms provided assistance with the development of the Tenant Service Authority brand.

Iain Wright: Yes. After competitive tender, the TSA awarded the job of developing their brand to the Engage Group.

Departmental Data Protection

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what IT security policy his Department has; what procedures are in place to ensure the policy is being followed; what his Department's policy is on encryption of data when it leaves departmental premises; and what sanctions are in place for failure to comply with this policy.

Gareth Thomas: Information is a key asset to Government and its correct handling is vital to the delivery of public services and to the integrity of HMG. The security policy framework, the data handling report and the national information assurance strategy produced by the Cabinet Office provide a strategic framework for protecting information that Government handles and put in place a set of mandatory measures which Departments must adhere to.
	The Department for International Development is compliant with the security policies contained in the Government security policy framework, including those for information security and assurance.
	Depending upon the circumstances, a range of sanctions are available including disciplinary or administrative action, and in extreme or persistent cases, termination of employment/services and, if appropriate, criminal proceedings.

Departmental Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what payments for  (a) polling and  (b) other services his Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Limited since 31 December 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not made any payments to (i) Deborah Mattinson or (ii) Opinion Leader Research Ltd since 31 December 2007, for polling or any other services.

Departmental Scientists

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's budget for scientific advice and research is in 2008-09; for what purposes the equivalent budget for 2007-08 was used; and how many people employed in his Department have a science or engineering degree.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development's (DFID) budget for scientific advice and research in 2008-09 was £135.8 million.
	In 2007-08, the budget for scientific advice and research was £124.7 million. This was used to fund our priority research in human development (£50.8 million), growth and livelihoods (£42.7 million), social, political and environmental change (£22.1 million) and £9 million to fund knowledge and communications programmes that ensure that the results of our research were disseminated and put into use.
	DFID has above 665 members of staff with science or engineering degrees. This has been defined as those holding a B.Eng, B.Sc, Bsc.Econ, B.Soc Sc, M.Eng, MSc, or any other degree (such as BA etc.) where the qualification subject refers to science or engineering. Many of these staff have more than one degree.

Developing Countries: Family Planning

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which family planning programmes his Department supports; how much funding is being provided to each in 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) provided £20 million in core funding to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). UNFPA has a global mandate to assist countries to deliver better sexual reproductive health and rights including voluntary family planning services; gender equality; and to better understand population dynamics including growth, ageing, fertility and mortality.
	DFID provided £5 million to support UNFPA's Global Programme for Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS) in 2008-09. The Global Programme will support up to 40 countries to access high quality and affordable essential drugs, contraceptives, and equipment for voluntary family planning services, HIV/STI prevention and maternal health services. The UK will be the largest donor to UNFPA's Global Programme with up to £100 million over five years.
	It is not possible to provide an exact figure of DFID's funding to family planning at country level. This is because DFID has a number of funding channels for country programmes including budgetary support for health systems, direct government budgetary support and multilateral funding which may have as a sub-component the provision of family planning commodities and services.

Family Planning: Finance

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what payments his Department has made to  (a) Marie Stopes International,  (b) the International Planned Parenthood Federation,  (c) the British Pregnancy Advisory Service,  (d) the United Nations Population Fund and  (e) the Family Planning Association (UK) for (i) abortion, (ii) family planning and (iii) other reproductive health services in the last year; what the total of grants made to each organisation in that year was; how much he plans to give to each in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Details of DFID's 2008-09 spending are not yet available but will be published in our 2009 annual report in July. DFID contributions to the listed organisations in the 2007-08 financial year are as follows;
	Marie Stopes International (MSI) (funding for three projects): £220,000
	International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF): £9.55 million
	(£7.5 million core contribution and £2,050 Safe Abortion Action Fund)
	United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA): £34.9 million
	(£20 million core contribution, £14.9 million in funding for projects at a country level)
	British Pregnancy Advisory Service: 0
	Family Planning Association: 0
	UNFPA has the global mandate to assist countries deliver better sexual and reproductive health and rights including voluntary family planning services, gender equality, and to better understand population dynamics including growth, ageing, fertility and mortality. Comprehensive family planning includes the provision of reproductive health services and the provision of services to prevent unsafe abortion. It is therefore not possible to disaggregate these figures.
	DFID will provide £8.6 million per annum to IPPF over the next three years. DFID will also provide up to £89.5 million in un-earmarked core funding to UNFPA between 2008 and 2011. We will also provide £100 million between 2008-09 to 2012-13 to support UNFPA's Global Programme for Reproductive Health Commodity Security (GPRHCS).
	It is not possible to provide similar figures for MSI. This is because DFID has a number of funding channels for country programmes including budgetary support for health systems, direct government budgetary support and multilateral funding which may have as a sub-component the provision of family planning commodities and services contracted to MSI.

Public Opinion

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what expenditure has been incurred by the  (a) Department,  (b) agencies and  (c) non-departmental bodies in each year since 1997 on (i) opinion polling, (ii) focus groups and (iii) other forms of market research; if he will list the surveys commissioned; and what the purpose was of each.

Gareth Thomas: (a) Details of DFID's expenditure on opinion polling and focus groups in each complete financial year since 1997 are outlined in the following table. (iii) DFID may have commissioned other forms of market research as part of its development programme, however these costs are not held centrally and it would incur disproportionate cost to obtain them. Figures for 2008-09 are not yet available.
	
		
			   Focus groups  Cost (£)  Opinion polls  Cost (£) 
			 1997-98 OLR Baseline Study to explore existing attitudes to, and perceptions of Britain's international development programme 43,000 — — 
			 1998-99 — — — — 
			  
			 1999-2000 — — ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population to inform development education. 28,200 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 14,700 
			Readership survey of "Developments" magazine, in order to test its impact and reach. 1,804 
			  
			 2000-01 — — ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 33,000 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 14,629 
			  
			 2001-02 — — ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 34,300 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 11,515 
			  
			 2002-03 OLR focus group to analyse public understanding of international news stories. 38,427 ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 31,880 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 11,515 
			  
			 2003-04 OLR focus group research to explore ways of increasing understanding and support for international development in the UK. 50,309 ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 32,990 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 12,220 
			  
			 2004-05 — — ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 32,990 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 12,220 
			  
			 2005-06   ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 41,766 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 14,776 
			 2006-07 — — ONS poll to monitor the opinion of the UK adult population on international development used to inform, and monitor the impact of, our work on development awareness and education. 37,740 
			MORI poll to monitor the opinion of UK schoolchildren to inform and monitor impact of development education work. 18,971 
			  
			 2007-08 Solutions Strategy Research. Qualitative research aimed at getting public opinions on ethical shopping, and the benefits it can bring to developing countries to inform, direct, and provide a factual basis for communications activity. 19,600 — — 
			 2007-08 — — Taylor Nelson Sofres RSGB questions on omnibus survey to provide interim measure on concern about global poverty among UK; adults to inform, direct, and provide a solid factual basis for communications on the; work of DFID on fighting global poverty. 5,940 
			 2007-08   Taylor Nelson Sofres annual attitudinal tracking survey into public perceptions of global poverty to inform, direct, and provide a factual basis for communications on the work of DFID on fighting global poverty. 47,500 
			 2007-08   ICM quantitative research survey to measure UK adults' interest in shopping ethically and the benefits that it can bring to developing countries to direct, inform, and provide a factual basis for communications activity. 8,844 
			 2007-08 Creative Research. Qualitative stage of audience segmentation research to inform, direct, and provide a factual basis for communications the work of DFID. 52,895.62 — — 
			 2007-08 — — Taylor Nelson Sofres RSGB Quantitative research (questions on omnibus survey) to measure UK adults' interest in shopping; ethically and the benefits that it can bring to; developing countries. 7,400 
			 2007-08   Ipsos Mori. Quantitative Stage of Audience Segmentation research, to inform, direct, and provide a factual basis for communications on the work of DFID. 137,818 
			 2007-08   GfK NOP. annual survey of young people's attitudes towards global poverty and development issues to inform, direct, and provide a factual basis for communications on the work of DFID. 23,745 
		
	
	 (b) DFID has no agencies
	 (c) DFID has one non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission. The Commission has incurred no expenditure on opinion polling, focus groups or other forms of market research since 1997.

St Helena: Airports

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on the proposed construction of an airport on St. Helena; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) has received a number of letters from Members of Parliament and other interested parties about the proposal to construct an airport on St. Helena. On 9 February, my hon. friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, Mike Foster, met the Governor of St. Helena on the issue. He has also met with representatives from the bidding company, Impregilo SpA, on 10 February and from SHELCO (St. Helena Leisure Corporation Ltd) on 2 March.

Equality Bill

Virendra Sharma: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what provision she plans to make in the Equality Bill for the use of positive action to redress inequalities at work.

Maria Eagle: The Equality Bill will broaden the range of voluntary positive action measures which can be taken by employers or service providers to the full extent allowed by European law.
	For example, employers will, in some circumstances, be able to take under- representation or disadvantage into account when selecting for appointment or promotion between two or more equally suitable candidates, if they choose to do so.
	The new provisions will be backed by comprehensive and authoritative guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Departmental Absenteeism

Lee Scott: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff of her Office were recorded absent for non-medical reasons on  (a) 2 February 2009 and  (b) 3 February 2009; what estimate she has made of the (i) cost to her Office and (ii) number of working hours lost as a result of such absence; and what guidance has been issued to staff in respect of absence on those days.

Maria Eagle: 32 staff from the Government Equalities Office were absent due to non-medical reasons on 2 February 2009 and two staff were absent on 3 February 2009. Many were able to work from home once it was clear transport was disrupted as access to departmental IT systems was unaffected. The total number of working hours lost was 245 and the cost for time lost is estimated at £5,060. For all absences the Department asks that staff notify their line manager by 10 am on the day of any change to their normal working pattern. When staff made contact they were asked to consider all transport options to enable them to attend the office but to take into account any personal safety issues.

Manpower: Equality and Human Rights Commission

Paul Goodman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality how many staff the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) employs; what the EHRC staff costs are expected to be for 2008-09; how many staff the  (a) Disability Rights Commission,  (b) Equal Opportunities Commission and  (c) Commission for Racial Equality employed in their last full year of existence; and what the staffing costs of each were in that year.

Maria Eagle: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has 514 members of staff. Projected staff costs for 2008-09 is £23,603,000.
	The total number of staff employed by each of the legacy commissions in their last full year of existence for 2006-07, and the staffing costs of each in that year are set out as follows:
	The Commission for Racial Equality employed 247 members of staff. Total staffing costs were £9,559,000.
	The Equality Opportunities Commission employed 172 members of staff. Total staffing costs were £5,166,000.
	The Disability Rights Commission employed 209 members of staff. Total staffing costs were £8,338,000.

Departmental Vacancies

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many applications were received in response to Cabinet Office vacancy notice REC/08/169 for a front of house assistant.

Tom Watson: All Cabinet Office recruitment is carried out in line with the principle of fair and open competition on merit in line with the civil service commissioners' recruitment code.

Children: Bed And Breakfast Accommodation

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children under 16 have been recorded as living in bed and breakfast accommodation in each of the last five years; and what steps are being taken to reduce the number of children in such accommodation.

Iain Wright: I have been asked to reply.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 2 March 2009,  Official Report, column 1225W, which gives a national estimate of the number of children in bed and breakfast style temporary accommodation under homelessness legislation as at the end of September 2008, and steps that are being taken to reduce that number. The September 2008 quarter was the first for which the response rate and quality of data reported at local authority level was sufficiently high to produce a national estimate, so national figures for previous years are not available.

Children: Day Care

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 1058-62W, on children's day care, how many childcare settings have closed in each quarter in 2008-09.

Beverley Hughes: The available information is shown in the table.
	Due to changes in legislation as at 1 September 2008 new categories have been introduced for the collection of child care data and the current categories have ceased to exist. The latest Ofsted figures for a full quarter were published in June 2008. Ofsted are currently reviewing how these data will be published in the future.
	
		
			  Number and percentage of childcare providers that have opened and closed( 1)  position as at each quarter ,  England  2008 
			Childminders  Full  d ay  c are  Out  o f  s chool  d ay  c are( 2) 
			Number  Rate  Number  Rate  Number  Rate 
			 January-March 2008 Opened 2,200 3.3 550 3.9 450 4.2 
			  Closed 3,300 5.0 420 2.9 480 4.5 
			 April-June 2008 Opened 2,200 3.4 520 3.6 420 3.9 
			  Closed 2,500 3.9 370 2.6 420 3.9 
			 (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 if under 100, and to the nearest 100 if over 100. (2) Out of school day care figures may not include services in extended schools as OFSTED data only includes providers that have to register separately.  Source: Ofsted

Children: Social Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2009,  Official Report, column 802W, on children: local services, what methodology was used to allocate the funds between local authorities.

Beverley Hughes: Local authorities' grant allocations have been calculated by applying the children's social care relative needs formula, details of which can be found at the following website:
	http://www.local.communities.gov.uk/finance/0809/methkid.pdf

Children's Centres: Standards

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children's centres nurseries were deemed  (a) excellent,  (b) good,  (c) satisfactory and  (d) inadequate by Ofsted in each year since Ofsted was established.

Beverley Hughes: These are matters for Ofsted. The Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and copies of her replies have been placed in the Libraries.
	 Letter from Christine Gilbert ,  dated 9 February 2009:
	Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, for reply.
	As you will be aware, Ofsted was established in 1992, but the first children's centres were only designated from June 2003, with many developing from Sure Start Local Programmes and Early Excellence Centres. The services offered by Children's Centres varies but may include integrated early education and childcare. This means that a Children's Centre may include a provision registered by Ofsted (day care and childcare on non-domestic premises) or a maintained school which will be inspected by Ofsted. However, we do not identify if childcare providers or schools are part of a Children's Centre on our databases.
	The figures below should be treated with some care. To produce these we have cross-referenced the postcodes of Sure Start Children's Centres, according to the DCSF Sure Start database (which is updated by local authorities), with those of the childcare providers and nursery schools on our records. This matching is unlikely to be fully accurate. A Sure Start Children's Centre may have the same post code as a childcare setting while not being the same establishment.
	The following tables A and B show the number and proportion of registered childcare providers with a postcode match to a Sure Start Children's Centre receiving each overall quality grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 April 2003 to 31 August 2008. Table C shows the number and proportion of registered childcare providers with a postcode match to a Sure Start Children's Centre receiving each overall quality grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 September 2008 (when the early years foundation stage was introduced) to 31 December 2008, which are the latest data available on childcare inspections. Between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2005, the early years inspection framework was based on the Children Act 1989, and used a three-point scale, ranging from good to unsatisfactory. Between 1 April 2005 and 31 August 2008, the inspection framework (commonly known as the Inspecting Outcomes for Children framework) used a four-point scale, ranging from outstanding to inadequate. The early years foundation stage inspection framework, introduced on 1 September 2008, uses a similar four-point scale.
	The following tables D and E show the number and proportion of nursery schools receiving each overall effectiveness grade following an Ofsted inspection from 1 September 2003 to the 31 August 2008, which are the latest data available on school inspection outcomes. Under the previous school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 10), this judgment was made using a seven point scale: excellent, very good, good, satisfactory, unsatisfactory, poor and very poor. Since September 2005, the judgment has been made under the current school inspection framework (commonly known as Section 5) using a four point scale: outstanding, good, satisfactory and inadequate.
	It is not possible to operate a simple read-across approach between frameworks, so simple comparisons are not possible. Inspectors do not make reference to, or comparisons with, different inspection frameworks. Ofsted's criteria for making inspection judgments about childcare and schools are clearly set out in our inspection guidance.
	Please note that that the selection of provision for inspection each year is not random. We select providers for inspection each year based on a number of factors, including the period since their last inspection and the grade awarded them at that inspection. Therefore, these figures should not be used to make judgments about the standards of national provision.
	A copy of this reply has been sent to right hon. Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, and to right hon. Jim Knight MP, Minister of State for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
	
		
			  Table A: Judgments on the overall quality grades from inspections of registered childcare that have a  postcode match with identified sure start c entres, between 1 April 2003 and 31 March 2005 
			   Good  Satisfactory  Unsatisfactory  
			  Time Period  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total number of providers 
			 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004 17 68 8 32 0 0 25 
			 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005 214 72 81 27 3 1 298 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B: Judgments on the overall quality grades from inspections of registered childcare that have a postcode match with identified sure start centres, between 1 April 2005 and 31 August 2008 
			   Outstanding  Good  Satisfactory  Inadequate  
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total number of providers 
			 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006 12 3 209 56 127 34 24 6 372 
			 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007 23 3 452 60 249 33 25 3 749 
			 1 April 2007 to 31 August 2008 51 4 821 63 383 29 46 4 1,301 
		
	
	
		
			  Table C: Judgments on the overall quality grades from inspections of registered childcare that have a postcode match with identified sure start centres, between 1 September 2008 and 31 December 2008 
			   Outstanding  Good  Satisfactory  Inadequate  
			  Time period  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total number of providers 
			 1 September 2008 to 31 December 2008 8 6 75 60 37 29 6 5 126 
		
	
	
		
			  Table D: Judgments on the overall effectiveness grades from inspections of nursery schools that have a postcode match with identified sure start centres, between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2005 
			  Time  p eriod  Number of nursery schools  Inspection outcome 
			 1 September 2003 to 31 August 2004 1 Excellent 
			  1 Good 
			 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005 1 Excellent 
			  1 Very Good 
			  1 Good 
		
	
	
		
			  Table E: Judgments on the overall effectiveness grades from inspections of nursery schools that have a postcode match with identified sure start centres, between 1 September 2005 and 31 August 2008 
			   Outstanding  Good  Satisfactory  Inadequate  
			  Time period  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Total number of providers 
			 1 September 2005 to 31 December 2006(1) 8 33 15 63 1 4 0 0 24 
			 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007 24 41 30 51 5 8 0 0 59 
			 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008 21 38 34 61 1 2 0 0 56 
			 (1) Includes two inspections carried out in the 2004-05 academic year as pilots for the inspection framework introduced in September 2005.

Pre-School Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 28 January 2009,  Official Report, column 657W, on pre-school education: teaching, which programmes are funded by the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant; how much has been spent on the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant in each year for which records are available; and how much is forecast to be spent in each financial year up to the end of the 2010-11 financial year.

Beverley Hughes: The Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant funding is not provided for specific programmes for the training of childcare staff but is provided in ring-fenced blocks to allow local authorities to respond to their local priorities.
	Funding to improve the quality of practice and the capability of the workforce in early years settings is provided to Local Authorities within the outcomes, quality and inclusion strand of the Sure Start, Early Years and Childcare Grant.
	The funding allocated for outcomes quality and inclusion for the CSR period April 2008 to March 2011 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Outcomes, quality and inclusion allocation (£) 
			 2008/09 127,155,784 
			 2009/10 147,235,934 
			 2010/11 164,148,541 
			 Total 438,540,259 
		
	
	While the outcomes, quality and inclusion categorisation of funding was introduced in April 2008 the Department has records of local authority spend under the broadly analogous category of workforce development from April 2004, as shown in the following table(1).
	(1) Not all audits have been received from the local authorities for 2007/08 and 2006/07. For those programmes with outstanding audits spend figures have been taken from unaudited returns. Where these are unavailable an average spend rate has been applied to their allocation to produce a likely spend. In 2005/06 seven local authorities were in local area agreements, 26 in 2006/07 and 24 in 2007/08. No spend for these authorities is available as they were not required to submit statements of spend to the Department.
	
		
			   Workforce development spend (£) 
			 2007/08 63,700,942 
			 2006/07 54,527,678 
			 2005/06 73,782,315 
			 2004/05 46,480,478

Adult Education

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many additional full-time equivalent places he has made available in further education colleges for post-19 adult education and training in each year from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

Si�n Simon: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) grant letter 2009-10 (18 November 2009) set out planned investment in adults and associated learner numbers for 2008/09 and 2009/10.
	Investment through the LSC is expected to support around 3.4 million adult learners in 2008/09 and 3.3 million learners in 2009/10 across all funding routes. These are not expressed as full time equivalents as this method of calculating the volume of learning is not applicable for all funding routes.
	We are committed to ensuring that public investment supports adults to gain skills necessary to enter and progress into sustainable employment and further learning. This strategy has seen record numbers of learners participate and achieve qualifications that provide these skills. Reprioritisation of funding towards these priorities and away from high numbers of shorter courses will affect the total number of LSC-funded adult learners.
	Learner number figures are based on national assumptions of what our investment could deliver in each of the funding routes. The volume and level of courses delivered will follow demand. It is therefore not possible to say how many of these places will be delivered in further education colleges over these years.
	Planned budgets for 2010-11 with associated learner numbers will be confirmed towards the end of the year in the normal way. Budgets for 2011-12 and beyond will be agreed as part of the next spending review.

Apprentices

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what support is available for apprentices whose employer terminates their contract before they have completed their apprenticeship.

Si�n Simon: I am pleased Apprenticeship completion rates are improving. In 2007/08 we saw 64 per cent. of apprentices successfully completing their apprenticeshipup from 37 per cent. in 2004/05, and since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in Apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08.
	We have established a matching service to help those apprentices in the construction sector at risk of redundancy to find alternative employment and to complete their apprenticeship. We are currently working with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to explore how this approach might be extended to other sectors. More generally, providers and the LSC have procedures to advise and relocate apprentices in cases where providers or employers fail, to help ensure that they are able to continue in work and complete their apprenticeship. Where alternative work is not available local advice agencies working with training providers and colleges will help find other training opportunities. Such arrangements are being used, for example, to help former Woolworth apprentices complete their apprenticeship framework and find alternative employment or training.
	The 140 million package announced by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in January for an additional 35,000 apprenticeship places will help fund new provision in both the public and private sectors, and will extend the opportunities available to people facing redundancy. This package will further boost the number of people starting an apprenticeship.

Apprentices: Construction

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people started apprenticeships in the construction industry in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 2 March 2009
	Table 1 following shows the number of apprenticeship starts in construction in 2007/08. There were 21,000 apprenticeship starts in construction frameworks in 2007/08, up from 15,200 in 2003/04, a 38 per cent. increase.
	
		
			  Table 1: Apprenticeship starts in construction, 2007/08 
			  Sector framework  Number of starts 
			 Construction 20,400 
			 Engineering Construction 600 
			 Total 21,000 
			  Notes: 1. Volumes are rounded to the nearest 100, and may not add up to the total. 2. Frameworks included in construction are: 107Engineering Construction 116Construction  Source: WBL ILR 2007/08 
		
	
	The Government are committed to rebuilding Apprenticeships. Since 1997 we have witnessed a renaissance in Apprenticeships from a low point of 65,000 to a record 225,000 apprenticeship starts in 2007/08. Completion rates are also at a record high with 64 per cent. successfully completing an apprenticeshipup from 37 per cent. in 2004/05.

Education: Finance

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans has he to make additional funding available to further education colleges and universities for the re-skilling of individuals who hold a level three or level four qualification.

Si�n Simon: holding answer 9 March 2009
	Alongside existing programmes and training provision, we have announced new measures to provide employment-focused training for people facing or at risk of redundancy, as well as those who have been out of work for a longer period of time. This includes: a package of 158 million to support 40,000 new employment-focussed training places for those at risk of redundancy; 83 million to support 75,000 extra further education places for the long-term unemployed; and 140 million to support 35,000 additional Apprenticeship places. The amount of funding that will be available to further education colleges for this training will depend on demand and skills needs of individuals rather than being linked to prior attainment.
	Within our existing entitlements, learners who already have a qualification at level 3 or level 4 may be able to access repeat qualifications, however the learner or their employer may be asked to make a contribution towards the cost of the course. Funding for repeat qualifications may be available through the Adult Learner Responsive or Employer Responsive route. In particular, Sector Compacts enable more flexible use of Train to Gain funding for retraining in subjects deemed a priority for a specific sectors.
	In late January 2009, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) announced their Economic Challenge Investment Fund, a 50 million fund (25 million from HEFCE matched with 25 million from individual higher education institutions) to provide help for individuals and businesses during these difficult times. This will help universities and colleges to provide tailored training, development and professional support to vulnerable groups, including those who want to re-skill in strategically important and vulnerable subjects.

Empty Property

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what the estimated cost in empty property business rates for the vacant properties recorded on the e-PIMS database owned by his Department is in 2008-09.

Si�n Simon: DIUS does not own any vacant property; and therefore does not expect to pay any empty property business rates in April 2008 to March 2009.

Train to Gain Programme: Finance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills with reference to the Pre-Budget Report 2008, whether the extension of the Train to Gain scheme will be funded from an existing spending programme.

Si�n Simon: The 2009-10 grant letter to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) sets out the budget for Train to Gain. Train to Gain is a growing programme. This will result in a planned budget increase for Train to Gain programme from 657 million in 2008-09 to 925 million in 2009-10, which will support around 949,000 learners. The Government Investment Strategy 2009-10, published last November, set out the planned aggregate growth in the LSC's budget and also the priorities set within that.
	The 350 million pre-Budget report announcement is the growth over the next two years and will be focussed on small and medium-sized enterprises to help them get the training that they need.
	Train to Gain is the key service for supporting employers to invest in the future productivity and profitability of their businesses by investing in the skills of their employees. Train to Gain offers quality-assured, impartial advice from skills brokers, to help identify the business' skills needs at all levels and make the right, informed choices.

Vocational Training: Luton

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 29 January 2009,  Official Report, column 789W, on employment-related skills, how much of the funding allocated to improve the employment-related skills of people with low skills he expects to be spent in Luton.

Si�n Simon: The recently announced funding to support employment-focused training for people facing or at risk of redundancy, as well as those who have been out of work for a longer period of time, will be spent in line with demand and skills needs. It is therefore not possible to say how much funding will be spent in a given geographical area at this point in time.

Concessionary Bus Fares Scheme

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the cost to local authorities to date of providing the national concessionary bus fares scheme.

Paul Clark: Additional funding of 212 million has been provided to local authorities this year to cover the extra cost of the new concession. It is estimated that this will bring the total spending on concessionary fares to approximately 1 billion this year. The Government are confident that there are sufficient funding in total for statutory concessionary fares.

Cycling: East Midlands

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of cycle lanes have been introduced in each county in the East Midlands since 2001.

Paul Clark: This information is no longer collected centrally by the Department for Transport as part of our drive to reduce the burden upon local authorities in respect of the information we request annually from them.
	However we do hold some historical information which is produced in the following table. The data is not verified by the Department.
	
		
			  Cycle lanes 2001-07 
			Kilometres 
			  Highway authority  GO region  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Derby City GO-EM 0 0 1 1 1 1 
			 Derbyshire (sole) GO-EM 1 9 1 0   
			 Leicester City GO-EM  1 2 2 4  
			 Leicestershire (Central) GO-EM 15 4 6 7 1  
			 Leicestershire (County) GO-EM 19 14 3 2 7 5 
			 Lincolnshire GO-EM 11 8 4 1 9 3 
			 Northamptonshire GO-EM 0 1 0 1 1 0 
			 Nottingham City (part of joint) GO-EM 5 14 14 0 5 8 
			 Nottinghamshire (Greater Notts part of joint) GO-EM 0 0 1 2 2 0 
			 Nottinghamshire (North Notts) GO-EM 2 0 1 12 1 4 
			 Rutland GO-EM 5 0 0

Departmental Public Consultation

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what payments for  (a) polling and  (b) other services his Department has made to (i) Deborah Mattinson and (ii) Opinion Leader Research Limited since 31 December 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: No payments have been made by the Department to Deborah Mattinson or Opinion Leader Research Limited between 31 December 2007 and 3 March 2009.

Driving Standards Agency: Alcoholic Drinks

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 26 February 2009,  Official Report, column 900W, on the Driving Standards Agency: alcoholic drinks, what the cost to his Department was of the wine served at each of the three conferences.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driving Standards Agency spent the following on wine for each conference.
	
		
			  Conference  Cost of alcohol provided exclusive of VAT () 
			 May Conference 2,068.30 
			 June Conference 1 1,894.97 
			 June Conference 2 2,111.54

Railway Stations: Opening Hours

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2009,  Official Report, column 496W, on railway stations: opening hours, what criteria the ticketing and settlement agreements with  (a) South West Trains and  (b) First Capital Connect contain in respect of the minimum hourly number of (i) visits and (ii) ticket purchases required for a ticket office to remain open.

Paul Clark: The arrangements for through ticketing and rail retailing are specified in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA). Each train operator's passenger licence requires them to be a party to, and comply with the TSA. Franchise agreements also require operators to comply with the TSA. The TSA does not vary by train operator.
	The criteria within the TSA for changing ticket office opening hours do not specify either a minimum number of visits or ticket purchases which must be made.

Road Traffic: Urban Areas

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change in congestion levels was recorded by each of the urban areas to receive the Urban Congestion Performance Fund payment announced on 23 February 2009.

Paul Clark: The following table contains the percentage change in average person journey time per mile in each urban area from the baseline (a combination of 2004-05 and 2005-06 data) and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Urban area  Percentage change 
			 London -5.1 
			 Greater Manchester -1.6 
			 Merseyside -2.2 
			 South Yorkshire -5.2 
			 Tyne and Wear -5.7 
			 West Midlands 0.0 
			 West Yorkshire 1.4 
			 Bristol -5.4 
			 Leicester -0.1 
			 Nottingham 0.0 
			 10 urban areas -3.0 
		
	
	The full table is available in Road Traffic and Congestion in Great Britain; Quarter 4 2008, available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pqr/statistics/datatablespublications/roadstraffic/traffic/qbtrafficgb/2008/q408

Abortion: Drugs

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which abortifacient drugs are licensed for use in England; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when his Department last undertook review of clinical evidence on the use of  (a) mifepristone and  (b) the morning-after pill that drew on (i) UK and (ii) international research; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: In the United Kingdom Mifegyne (mifepristone or RU486) is licensed for the termination of pregnancy (abortion). This product licence was granted following advice from the then Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) that was based on a review of all the available evidence for safety, efficacy and quality.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in consultation with the wider Department, has reviewed the use of emergency hormonal contraception on a number of occasions: in 2001, when Levonelle-2 was made available for sale in pharmacies as Levonelle; in 2003, when the dosing regimen was changed from taking two tablets 12 hours apart to taking them at the same time; and in relation to this, when the strength of the pill was doubled in 2004 so that only one tablet need be taken. Advice from the Committee on Safety of Medicines (now the Commission on Human Medicines) was sought on all occasions.
	In 2005 the safety of mifepristone was reviewed within the UK and Europe in response to the reporting of very rare cases of fatal toxic shock following infection, reported from the United States of America, in association with the use of mifepristone and misoprostol for medical abortion. The Food and Drugs Administration concluded that no causal relationship could be established and that serious bacterial infections may occur with all types of abortion, whether spontaneous, surgical or medical. Similar cases of fatalities had not been observed in the UK or Europe. No new safety concerns were identified and no action considered necessary. We are also aware that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists reviewed the clinical use of mifepristone in order to update their September 2004 guideline on 'The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion'. This guideline recommends pre-abortion management for all types of abortion which includes infection screening and prophylaxis.
	The MHRA most recently reviewed the use of mifepristone in 2007. This review examined effectiveness and safety data relating to the use of mifepristone in combination with a prostaglandin for the termination of pregnancy up to nine weeks gestation and the balance of benefits and risks was found to be favourable. A comparison of medical versus surgical abortion found significantly more suspected pelvic infections and surgical complications, including uterine perforation that required laparoscopy, after surgical abortion. Furthermore, no significant difference in the success rates after medical abortion was observed compared with surgical abortion.
	As with all licensed medicines, the safety of mifepristone and emergency hormonal contraception will continue to be monitored by the MHRA.

Cardiovascular System: Ethnic Groups

Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to increase accessibility to the vascular risk assessment and management programme for those from South Asian communities;
	(2)  if he will review the eligibility age range for the vascular risk assessment and management programme for those of South Asian origin at risk of type 2 diabetes; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The vascular checks programme to which my right hon. Friend refers offers a real opportunity to make significant inroads in tackling health inequalities, including these relating to ethnicity. The checks themselves are suitable for delivery in a number of settings including general practice, but are equally suitable for pharmacy and other community settings, to help improve access to the checks by those who are less likely to see their general practitioner.
	The approach taken by the programme, which primary care trusts (PCTs) are being asked to start rolling out in 2009-10, is based on economic modelling undertaken by the Department to help ensure the most clinically effective and cost effective format. This is the service PCTs will have additional funding for from April 2009. All PCTs will wish to consider how to achieve the best coverage in terms of access and take up for their population, including commissioning the most effective provision for those communities at higher risk of vascular disease, such as South Asians.

Diabetes: Ethnic Groups

Ann Cryer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of black and minority ethnic people in Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trust area who have been diagnosed with diabetes;
	(2)  what estimate has been made of the percentage of black and minority ethnic people in Bradford and Airedale Primary Care Trust who  (a) were offered and  (b) attended annual retinal screening appointments in the 12 months up to 30 September 2008.

Ann Keen: The information is not collected centrally.

European Commission

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what occasions other than meetings of the EU Council of Ministers, Ministers from his Department expect to meet the European Commissioner for Health over the next six months.

Dawn Primarolo: There are currently no plans to hold a meeting, in the coming six months, between Health Ministers and the European Commissioner for Health, other than at the EU Council of Ministers. Such a meeting can be arranged as the need arises. The United Kingdom will however, continue to engage regularly with the Commission and other EU member states at official level in the Health Council Working Group.

Health Services: Manpower

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to increase the  (a) number and  (b) skills level of public health workers as proposed in A High Quality Workforce: NHS Next Stage Review.

Ann Keen: In order to ensure that the actions we are setting in train to deliver the numbers and skills required in the public health workforce are aligned and coherent with our system policies, we have commissioned an internal review. This will examine the effectiveness of existing policies and initiatives in place across the Department and will provide an informed assessment of the capacity requirements and skills gaps of the public health delivery system.
	The team supporting this review is now in place and have commenced work, engaging across the Department and with key external stakeholders. The timetable they are working to will result in the publication of findings late in the year, to inform planning cycles for the public health delivery systems.

Hospital Wards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2009,  Official Report, columns 874-75W, on hospital wards: gender, from which budget funding for the improvement teams will come.

Ann Keen: The budget for the improvement teams relating to elimination of mixed sex accommodation is provided from the Department's central budgets.

Human Papilloma Virus: Children

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many girls aged between 12 and 13 years have been vaccinated against human papilloma virus in  (a) the UK and  (b) Bolton.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department collects data for England on the Human Papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme.
	Provisional data at the end of January 2009 for HPV vaccine uptake in England shows that:
	a total of 256,531 12 to 13-year-old girls have received the first dose; this represents 83.3 per cent. of the total number of girls in this age group; and
	a total of 227,156 12 to 13-year-old girls have received the first and second doses; this represents 73.3 per cent. of the total number of girls in this age group.
	Provisional data at the end of January 2009 for HPV vaccine uptake in the area covered by Bolton primary care trust (PCT) shows that:
	a total of 1,627 12 to 13-year-old girls have received the first dose; this represents 90.1 per cent. of the total number of girls in this age group in schools in Bolton PCT; and
	a total of 1,445 12 to 13-year-old girls have received the first and second doses; this represents 80.0 per cent. of the total number of girls in this age group in schools in Bolton PCT.
	The HPV vaccination is a three-dose schedule and the current cohorts of 12 to 13-year-old girls will be offered their third dose later this year.

Local Public Health Laboratories

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2009,  Official Report, column 877W, on local public health laboratories, which department had responsibility for the Public Health Laboratory Service between 1999 and 2003; and where the information relating to local public health laboratories during that period is held.

Dawn Primarolo: The Public Health Laboratory Service was a non-departmental public body of the Department of Health, under the NHS Act 1977. Its Annual Reports and Accounts, which included information about the local public health laboratories which it managed, were laid before Parliament.

Mental Health Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of the 35 improving access to psychological therapy sites have complied with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on computerised cognitive behavioural therapy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many treatments of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence-approved cognitive behavioural therapy programmes  (a) Beating the Blues and  (b) FearFighter have been provided by the 35 improving access to psychological therapy sites; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent progress has been made on establishing a national contract for the purchase of treatments for depression under the Beating the Blues programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what the average cost to the NHS of treating an individual for depression and anxiety was in the latest period for which information is available; what estimate his Department has made of the effect on those costs of nationwide implementation of National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on computerised psychological therapies; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The core aim of the Department's improving access to psychological therapies programme is to support the national health service to implement the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines and deliver effective treatment for people with depression and anxiety disorders. Compliance with clinical guidelines published by NICE forms part of the developmental standards for the NHS and NHS organisations are expected to move towards their full implementation. The Department recognises the important contribution of the effective provision of computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) and primary care trusts (PCTs) are obliged to provide funding for NICE-recommended cCBT packages where clinicians want to use them, however, the Department does not collect information on the uptake of cCBT.
	Information is not held centrally about how many treatments of Beating the Blues' or 'FearFighter' have been provided by PCTs.
	The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency have provided procurement advice to the NHS. However, the Department is not in a position to ring-fence funds specifically for cCBT, including Beating the Blues, as decisions about local services are made by local commissioners based on local needs assessments.
	Information is not held centrally on the cost to the NHS of treating an individual for depression and anxiety so no comparison can be made as to the impact of the nationwide implementation of NICE guidance on cCBT.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the tariff uplift breakdown for 2009-10 published by his Department on 5 February 2009, when he intends to develop a tariff for mental health services.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave him on 24 February 2008,  Official Report, column 660W.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Essex

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under 25 years received treatment for each sexually transmitted infection in  (a) West Chelmsford constituency and  (b) Essex in each of the last 10 years.

Dawn Primarolo: Data is only available on the number of diagnoses of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics and only available by strategic health authority (SHA). The following table gives the number of diagnoses for five selected STT diagnoses in patients under 25 in the East of England SHA between 1998 and 2007, the latest year for which data are available.
	
		
			  STI diagnoses  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Chlamydia 2,229 2,628 3,105 3,628 4,291 4,928 5,541 5,778 5,587 6,664 
			 Gonorrhoea 274 397 457 539 578 731 705 516 439 410 
			 Genital warts 2,713 3,106 2,926 3,096 3,147 3,298 3,485 3,571 3,628 3,991 
			 Genital herpes 584 615 617 660 612 601 590 670 750 838 
			 Syphilis 2 4 8 1 5 8 20 26 8 14 
			  Notes: 1. Data by age-group are only available for five selected STI diagnoses (Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, genital warts, genital herpes and primary and secondary syphilis) 2. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 3. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. 4. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data. 5. Data on S71 diagnoses are provided. Data on treatment received are unavailable.  Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns 
		
	
	In addition to STTs diagnosed in a GUM clinic, the National Chlamydia Screening programme (NCSP) provides chlamydia screening to asymptomatic people under the age of 25 years of age in England. The NCSP was launched in 2003 when a phased implementation programme started. The following table shows the number of diagnoses of chlamydia in patients between the ages of 13-24 years between April 2003 and December 2008 in Mid Essex primary care trust (PCT), Essex (which includes Mid Essex PCT, North East Essex PCT, South East Essex PCT and West Essex PCT) and The East of England SHA.
	
		
			  Area  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Mid Essex PCT 0 (1) 5 (1) 29 104 
			 Essex 100 221 204 284 601 1072 
			 East of England SHA Total 107 324 728 1,610 2,015 2,650 
			 (1) Cell size of one to four has been masked to protect deductive disclosure in accordance with Office for National Statistics guidelines.  Notes: 1. Data on Chlamydia diagnoses are provided. Complete data on treatment received are unavailable. 2. The figure for 'Essex' represents the sum of Chlamydia diagnoses made in Mid Essex, North East Essex, South East Essex and West Essex PCTs. 3. South East Essex is a phase 1 programme area which started screening in 2003-04. Mid Essex, North East Essex and West Essex are all phase three programme areas which started screening in 2006-07. 4. NSCP data are presented by PCT of residence. 5. The data available from the NCSP are the number of diagnoses made and not the number of patients diagnosed.  Source: NCSP

Smoking

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the smoking ban in reducing levels of smoking in England.

Dawn Primarolo: Smoke free legislation was introduced primarily to protect people from the harm of second hand smoke in enclosed parts of work and public places.
	On 1 July 2008 the Department published the report Smokefree Englandone year on, which gives details of the impact of the smoke free law in its first year. A copy of the Smokefree Englandone year on report has already been placed in the Library.
	Research has been commissioned by the Department, which will evaluate various aspects of the impact of the smoke free law in England. The resulting reports will be published once completed and peer reviewed.
	In a report in July 2008 , Professor Robert West Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco studies based at University College London, presented findings from the 'Smokers' Toolkit Study' that shows smoke free legislation in England has helped more smokers to quit than ever before and will continue in preventing an estimated 40,000 premature deaths over the next 10 years.

Social Services: Elderly

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of total net expenditure by local authorities was spent on  (a) residential and nursing home places for older people and  (b) domiciliary care for older people in each of the last 10 years.

Phil Hope: Data on expenditure by councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs) on residential and nursing home places and domiciliary care for older people (aged 65 and over) is collected and published by the NHS Information Centre for health and social care. The publication, Personal Social Services Expenditure and Unit Costs: England 2007-08, is available on the Information Centre website at
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/pssexpcosts0708
	and a copy has been placed in the Library.
	Information on net current expenditure by CASSRs on residential and nursing home places and domiciliary care for adults aged 65 and over between 1998-99 and 2007-08 in cash and real terms is shown in the following tables.
	Information on total net expenditure by local authorities is the responsibility of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	
		
			  Table 1: Net current expenditure by CASSRs on adults aged 65 and over between 1998-99 and 2007-08 in cash terms, England 
			   million 
			   1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Residential and nursing care home places 2,080 2,210 2,200 2,290 2,710 2,880 3,170 3,280 3,330 3,340 
			 Domiciliary care 1,390 1,490 1,570 1,650 1,740 2,130 2,350 2,560 2,660 2,710 
			 of which:   
			 Supporting People grant  190 170 150 140 150 
			  Notes: 1. From the 2000-01 financial year, the data was collected on a different basis when the PSS EX1 replaced the R03 return. 2. Data from 2003-04 onwards includes expenditure funded from the Supporting People grant that councils have classified as social services expenditure rather than housing expenditure. 3. From the 2000-01 financial year, the data was collected on a different basis when the PSS EX1 replaced the R03 return. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  2 :  Net current expenditure by CASSRs on adults aged 65 and over between 1998-99 and 2007-08 in real terms, England 
			   million 
			   1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Residential and nursing care home places 2,590 2,690 2,650 2,700 3,090 3,200 3,420 3,470 3,420 3,340 
			 Domiciliary care 1,730 1,810 1,890 1,940 1,990 2,370 2,540 2,710 2,730 2,710 
			 of which:   
			 Supporting People grant  220 190 160 140 150 
			  Notes: 1. Converted from cash terms using the gross domestic product deflator. 2. From the 2000-01 financial year, the data was collected on a different basis when the PSS EX1 replaced the R03 return. 3. Data from 2003-04 onwards includes expenditure funded from the Supporting People grant that councils have classified as social services expenditure rather than housing expenditure. 4. From the 2000-01 financial year, the data was collected on a different basis when the PSS EX1 replaced the R03 return.  Notes to all tables: Net current expenditure excludes income from client contributions and income items which count as expenditure from elsewhere in the public sector, such as contributions from primary care trusts. Residential and nursing care includes traditional residential and nursing care homes as well as supported and other accommodation. Supported and other accommodation includes other forms of registered accommodation where clients receive an element of both board and personal care, unstaffed (group) homes and adult placements/fostering. Domiciliary care has been defined as services helping the client to live at home, including direct payments, home care, day care, equipment and adaptations, meals and other non residential services. It also includes expenditure funded from the Supporting People grant that councils have classified as social services expenditure rather than housing expenditure. The information provided is derived from data collected annually on social services expenditure from CASSRs on the form PSS EX1. This collection has been the responsibility of the Information Centre since April 2005. Prior to this date, data was collected by the Department of Health. From the 2000-01 financial year, the PSS EX1 replaced both the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Actuals return, which was discontinued after 1999-2000, and the detailed analysis previously collected by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the R03 expenditure return (this was reduced to a summary return with effect from 2000-01).

Vulnerable Adults: Protection

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to enforce a multi-agency approach to safeguarding vulnerable adults, with particular reference to those who are both deaf and blind.

Phil Hope: A revision of the key guidance, No Secrets: Guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, is currently under way. As part of this, a large public consultation took place between 16 October 2008 and 31 January 2009a copy of the consultation document has been placed in the Library.
	The consultation document asked a large number of questions about how we need to change and develop the No Secrets guidance, to strengthen and improve existing safeguarding arrangements for all vulnerable adults, including whether new legislation is needed. The review is also considering how to improve prevention of abuse, and how to assist all peopleincluding those who are blind or deaf - in making decisions about risks and choice in their lives.
	The consultation on safeguarding adults has elicited a huge amount of information, from both service users and professionalswhich is being considered very carefully by Ministers.

Vulnerable Adults: Protection

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he plans to take to ensure that carers do not exert undue influence on vulnerable adults purchasing their care using personal budgets or direct payments.

Phil Hope: It is for professionals in developing support plans with users and carers to balance the needs of both. In doing so they need to ensure that an assessment of risk is undertaken and that the support plan reflects that in a proportionate manner as stated in the Independence, choice and risk: a guide to best practice in supported decision (May 2007).
	The Health and Social Care Act 2008 extended direct payments to those people who lack capacity to consent and who are currently excluded from the scheme. These people will now be able to benefit from direct payments through the appointment of a 'suitable person', often a friend or relative, to receive the payment on their behalf. The Department has recently consulted on draft regulations to implement this extension which, along with revised accompanying guidance, will come into force this year.
	Anyone making decisions for a person who lacks capacity, including a suitable person who receives direct payments on that person's behalf, is obliged under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), to act at all times in the best interests of the person lacking capacity. Acting in someone's best interests includes involving them in the decision-making process as far as is reasonably practicable to make sure that the person is able to have as much input as possible into decisions about their care. Suitable persons will need to be able to demonstrate how they have spent the direct payment and councils will have the power to stop the direct payment if it is not being spent in the way which it was intended when it was made.
	We are also taking action to ensure advice is made available to families who will manage direct payments on behalf of an individual who lacks capacity. The Government are making resources available under the MCA grant to councils and primary care trusts to train professionals on all aspects of working with people who lack capacity and taking best interest decisions on their behalf. Councils decide how best to use these resources on training, awareness raising and appointing specialist MCA professionals.

Departmental Correspondence

Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he plans to reply to the letter of 20 February 2009 from the editors of the Birmingham Post, the Birmingham Mail and the Coventry Telegraph on his Department's response to the communiqu from the West Midlands auto industry summit.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 27 February 2009
	The Secretary of State has responded.

Government Departments: Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost of running the  (a) CompeteFor website and  (b) supply2.gov website was in each of the last three years; how many unique visitors each site received in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The running costs for CompeteFor are as follows:
	Year 1 (December 2007 to March 2008) 220,000
	Year 2 (April 2008 to March 09) projected at 1,241,000
	The CompeteFor site has had 54,000 businesses register since launch in January 2008.
	Supply2.Gov.uk is operated under a concession type contract whereby the supplier carries all of the commercial risk. Initial set up costs totalling 120,000 were borne by the Department of Trade and Industry in 2006. In 2008-09 BERR funded the provision of a free trial for businesses which ran between 1 May and 31 July 2008, at a cost of 110,310 (ex VAT). No other payments have been made in relation to the portal.
	The breakdown of supplier registrations into financial year are as follows:
	Year 1 (Launch to March 2007) - 43,050
	Year 2 (April 2007 - March 2008) - 31,256
	Year 3 (April 2008 - Jan 2009) - 50,872
	Total registrants since launch to the end of January 2009 was 125,178.

Job Creation

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he has taken to create British jobs for British workers since 24 September 2007.

Ian Pearson: The Government have announced a series of measures to support businesses and families through the financial crisis. A summary of these measures are set out in The Road to the London Summit: the plan for recovery. Copies of the document are available in the Libraries of the House.

Manufacturing Industries: Motor Vehicles

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much the European Investment Bank has given in loans to each automotive company for investment in lower carbon initiatives since 27 January 2009.

Ian Pearson: The European Investment Bank (EIB) is currently assessing a number of applications received under its clean transport facility from UK and other European automotive companies following the doubling of the clean transport facility budget in December 2008.

Small Businesses: Procurement

Margaret Moran: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will simplify and speed up the procurement process for  (a) small and medium-sized enterprises and  (b) social enterprises supplying the public sector.

Ian Pearson: The Department is working with the Office of Government Commerce to implement all 12 recommendations made in the Glover Review Accelerating the economic engine: through transparent, simple and strategic procurement, published in November 2008, which aims to simplify and speed up the procurement process for SMEs wanting to supply goods and services to the public sector.

Departmental Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  how many staff in his Department and its predecessors were on sick leave for  (a) over 30 days,  (b) over 50 days and  (c) over 100 days in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the average number of days of sick leave per staff member in his Department has been since it was established;
	(3)  how many staff in his Department were recorded as having been on sick leave for over 12 months on 31 December 2008.

Mike O'Brien: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has been formed by bringing together work previously covered by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Sickness absence records are currently held by the two legacy departments and a system for bringing these records together will be implemented for the new reporting year 2009-10. Until this system is in place the Department would incur a disproportionate cost in reporting these figures.